The new Copyright Directive 2019/790 was published in the Official Journal on Friday 17 May 2019 and the implementation period will kick in 20 days from that date of publication i.e. Friday 7 June 2019. That means that Member States will need to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive by 7 June 2021.

Following the vote in the EU Parliament on 26 March 2019, today the EU Council has adopted the latest text of the new Copyright Directive which aims to make the legal framework on copyright fit-for-purpose in the digital age. Following the signature and publication of the Directive in the Official Journal of the EU, member states will have 24 months to transpose the new rules into their national law.

On Tuesday 26 March 2019, news broke that the new Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market had been voted through the EU Parliament. The Directive, which has been the subject of the most intensive lobbying ever experienced in relation to new legislation, passed through the EU Parliament with 348 votes in favour, 274 votes against and 24 abstentions.

Today, 26 February 2019, Members of the European Parliament (the Legal Affairs Committee) have approved the draft text of the new Copyright Directive in the Digital Single Market. The draft legislation was approved by 16 votes in favour and 9 votes against and no abstentions.
The final vote in Parliament is scheduled to take place during the 25-28 March II plenary session.

On Wednesday 13 February 2019, after apparently 13 hours of difficult negotiations, the European Parliament (EP), the Council of the EU and the European Commission spread some copyright love just in time for Valentine's Day and finally managed to reach political agreement on the text of the new Copyright Directive.

In a recent reference from Germany, the CJEU has found that national laws cannot exclude liability for copyright infringement in cases where the defendant can name someone else, such as a family member, who might have had access to the internet connection used to send infringing material.

On 12th September, the European Parliament (EP) voted in favour of a number of amendments to the highly controversial draft Digital Copyright Directive, having voted in July to reject the previous draft.

On 12 September 2018, the European Parliament voted in favour of a number of amendments that have been made to the draft Copyright Directive. This follows the previous vote on 5 July 2018 when the EP controversially rejected the previous draft. Some are hailing this a victory for the creative industry as it is hoped the Directive will provide for fair remuneration for copyright holders. Others, however, are up in arms that these provisions will restrict the free flow of content on the internet.